Remembered celebrates the human story behind the extraordinary and diligent
efforts of those who felt passionately that the fallen of the Great War
should be remembered in perpetuity and with a dignity that had not hitherto
been accorded to the ordinary soldier. So successful were the early commissioners
in creating a lasting and fitting memorial, where men and women were buried
side by side regardless of race, rank or creed that the same design was
followed for the dead of the Second World War. Those who have no known grave
are commemorated on the Commission’s memorials to the missing throughout the
world and treated with equal respect.

Brian Harris’s images emphasise the quality of the work that was carried out
in the Commission’s early days when the best architects in Britain including
Edwin Lutyens, Herbert Baker and Reginald Blomfield were engaged to create
the cemeteries and memorials. The engineer of the Aswan Dam, Sir William
Garstin, was an early Commissioner, as was Rudyard Kipling, the first literary
adviser. Garden designer Gertrude Jekyll advised on the planting as did Arthur
Hill, Assistant Director at Kew. Winston Churchill argued on behalf of the
Commission in favour of the standard rounded headstones and the then Prince of
Wales helped Sir Fabian Ware, the man whose ideas brought the Commission into
being, to establish an Imperial body independent of government. Remembered
celebrates the Commission’s work and reminds us that its focus was and remains
the individuals whose lives are commemorated all over the world. There are
cemeteries and memorials in some 23,000 locations in 150 countries.

“Perhaps the most tragically beautiful book to fall on our desk this year.”

Navy News

“Julie Summers’ clear and lucid text traces
the history of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
from the carnage of 1915 to the present day.
This is a truly splendid book and fills a
long felt need.”

RUSI

“This book is not just a splendid artefact,
a joy to pick up and hold before flicking through
the colourful images:
this is a serious book with much more depth
than just a collection of pictures,
however atmospheric”

RUSI

“After I bought a copy for myself
I immediately got another one for a friend.”